With Enel X and Bird the first sharing service for electric scooters comes to the Rome E-Prix

Published on Thursday, 11 April 2019

Rome, April 11th, 2019 - Enel X, the Enel Group business line that develops innovative products and digital solutions, has signed an agreement with Bird Rides Italy to promote new solutions for e-scooter sharing in the Italian market.

The partnership will be launched in conjunction with the Rome Formula E race on April 12th and 13th, of which Enel X is Official Smart Charging Partner and Official Power Partner. The first shared electric scooter will arrive in the Eternal City and, on Friday April 12th, thanks to Bird, it will be possible to test the vehicle on the Grand Prix course.

Enel X and Bird have joined forces to bring a sustainable transportation solution to Italy, from the beginning to the end of the journey: all of the public charging points of Enel X will also become “nests” for the Bird scooters, enabling those driving an electric vehicle to park and charge it while continuing their trip on an electric scooter.

To make the system even easier to use, Bird’s electric scooters will also be visible on the Enel X Recharge app.

Thanks to an amendment approved in the last Budget Act, Bird’s scooters will soon be available in Italy. The rapid expansion of electric scooter sharing services is a response to two very current challenges that cities around the world are facing: traffic and pollution.

Bird is an American company that offers an e-scooter sharing service with the aim of providing an economic and ecological transport alternative for the last mile. Founded in 2017, Bird already operates in over 100 cities in the United States and Europe.

By providing a sustainable solution for the first/last mile of a trip, while improving pedestrian safety and increasing mobility options in areas poorly served by public transport, Bird has all the features to become an integral part of the mobility system of Italian cities, in close collaboration with local governments.

This partnership will create a first- and last-mile transport ecosystem, demonstrating that another way to get around is possible.

How Bird works

Bird is a simple, practical and above all intuitive urban mobility system. To use it you download the free application from the Apple Store or Google Play, locate the nearest electric scooter, scan the code on the handlebar to unlock it and drive it where you want to go.

Once the trip is over, the vehicle should be parked in a safe place that does not obstruct pedestrian or vehicular traffic, like a bicycle parking lot for example. The estimated cost is 1 euro to unlock the scooter and plus a rate per minute. The application can be downloaded by registering at www.bird.co.

The energy sector is changing: new technologies, concern for the environment and digitalisation have transformed the requirements and needs of the public and private sectors. Discover Enel X and change your way of using energy: products and services created to render everyday life more efficient and simple, from mobility to home automation, with offers designed for private individuals, companies and public administrations.